Google engineer Lorenzo Colitti says we might run out of internet addresses in the next several weeks

PALO ALTO (California) - THE Internet is running out of addresses. With everything from smartphones to Internet-linked appliances and cars getting online, the group entrusted with organising the Web is running out of the 'IP' numbers that identify destinations for digital traffic. The touted solution to the problem is a switch to a standard called IPv6 that allows trillions of Internet addresses, while the current IPv4 standard provides a meager four billion or so. 'The big pool in the sky that gives addresses is going to run out in the next several weeks,' said Google engineer Lorenzo Colitti, who is leading the Internet giant's transition to the new standard. 'In some sense, we are driving toward a wall. We have to do something, and IPv6 is the only real long-term solution.' The pool in the sky is a fast-draining reservoir of IP addresses maintained by the non-profit Int...